The Sound Inside at The Traverse Theatre "Truly extraordinary" says Graham Norton

Among the hits of this year's Edinburgh Festival is the UK Première of Adam Rapp's lauded American play, The Sound Inside. First seen on Broadway in 2019 garnering many awards and nominations, the play has only now made it across the pond for this new and highly celebrated production, directed by Matt Wilkinson.

It's a fascinating literary love story between an older creative writing professor and her maverick and unconventional young freshman, with two performers at the top of their game delivering compelling performances which Richard Jordan in The Stage commented on as "the best acting to be found at this year’s fringe courtesy of Madeleine Potter and Eric Sirakian". High praise indeed. It's a deliciously slow burn at the outset as both characters begin to reveal themselves to us, but it gradually gathers momentum, crescendo-ing into two unexpected twists which leave you breathless, intrigued, debating.

It remains with you long after the final curtain call. It's not only an acting masterclass, but the thrilling writing set on a minimalist stage that gives irresistible focus to storytelling that makes you lean in progressively through the 85 minutes.

Madeleine Potter in The Sound Inside, Traverse Theatre

Talking to the actors, it's often wonderful to get an insight in to how the production happened. In normal circumstances, it starts with a producer and writer and their play and from there flows the choosing of a director to bring it to life, followed by a detailed casting process to find absolutely the right actors. On this production it happened in the most unconventional way. It started with the actors. Sirakian saw the play on Broadway in 2019 and thought "I want to play that part one day" and so it was lodged in his mind. Some years later, he was watching Potter directing a workshop with all her acting skills at the fore and he thought "she's perfect to play the role of Bella" and he told her about the play. She read it and as she said "...and it never left me".

They had cast themselves. Now, in this totally topsy turvey way, they needed to find the director.

Her best friend, the actress Emily Bruni had had a huge success in Edinburgh in 2022 with the Psychodrama written and directed by Matt Wilkinson. They talked as friends do and Potter then plucked up the courage and asked Wilkinson to read it. He loved it and knew how he would create it, immediately having a vision for it.

Last piece in the initial puzzle, we needed someone to produce and Wilkinson asked his producer, Pádraig Cusack for Psychodrama whether he'd take it on. It was an immediate yes and from there it rolled along at breakneck speed to its celebrated opening in Edinburgh and one of the hits of the 2024 Festival.